Rent prices for apartments across the United States fell for a third consecutive month in November, data from the real estate platform RealPage has shown. This indicates that the U.S. housing market’s cooldown is still underway.
The latest data from RealPage indicated a 0.59% decline in prices in November, which is the third-largest monthly decline since 2010 behind April 2020 and May 2020, when the coronavirus pandemic was at its peak.
Jay Parsons, VP, Head of Economics & Industry for RealPage insists that this decline is more than just a sign of seasonality, even though prices are expected to drop at this time of year. “Inflation and economic uncertainty are having a freezing effect on major housing decisions. When people are uncertain, human nature is to go into ‘wait and see’ mode,” Parsons commented.
Other revelations include a decline in occupancy levels to 95.1% compared to the 95.6% experienced in 2019. This inability to meet pre-pandemic levels is largely attributed to weak new leasing demand.
Should such trends continue, Parsons explained, the U.S. housing market would remain on track to end 2022 with its weakest net apartment demand since 2009.